Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods • Hacker News Board

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#221

Post by scott_s » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:34 PM UTC

algesten wrote: post #200

scott_s wrote: post #174

The Impossible Burger is the best veggie burger I've ever had. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, and have now been a pescatarian for 8 years. It has been 18 years since I have had a proper cheeseburger, and since then I have had many thousands of veggie burgers. Cheeseburgers are probably my favorite food, and I haven't had one in 18 years. If someone told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would go out and eat a…

what's your motivation for eating fish/vegetarian? it sounds like you really want meat and your current situation is a kind of sacrifice?

I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons; I trust it's not hard to imagine or look up what those reasons are. At the time, I felt strongly about this. Over the years, I discovered I felt less strongly about it, but it was a deeply ingrained habit by that point. I also discovered that even though I no longer carried a deep moral imperative to not eat meat, I still carried a deep personal connection to the person I was when I did carry that imperative.

I eventually decided I didn't care about fish that much - but I decided that I would eventually eat fish again years before I finally did. Yes, it's a compromise of my original ethical judgement, but it's one I can live with.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#222

Post by nindalf » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:34 PM UTC

alpaca128 wrote: post #194

gnicholas wrote: post #176

Are they cooked separately from the meat burgers? Some people don’t care, but some definitely do. Carl’s Jr. doesn’t keep their Beyond Burgers separate, apparently.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

Can't speak for others but I've seen vegetarians for whom it evokes disgust. Unlike folks who choose later in life not to stop eating meat, these folks have never consumed any meat in their life. For them, eating something cooked on the same pan as chicken would be as repulsive as eating chicken itself.

I'm not vegetarian myself, but I imagine their revulsion is similar to what mine would be to dog meat. Even the sight of dog meat would likely make me lose my appetite.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#223

Post by greglindahl » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:35 PM UTC

alpaca128 wrote: post #194

gnicholas wrote: post #176

Are they cooked separately from the meat burgers? Some people don’t care, but some definitely do. Carl’s Jr. doesn’t keep their Beyond Burgers separate, apparently.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

It makes some of us vomit and then get diarrhea.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#224

Post by scott_s » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #204

scott_s wrote: post #174

The Impossible Burger is the best veggie burger I've ever had. I was a vegetarian for 10 years, and have now been a pescatarian for 8 years. It has been 18 years since I have had a proper cheeseburger, and since then I have had many thousands of veggie burgers. Cheeseburgers are probably my favorite food, and I haven't had one in 18 years. If someone told me that the world would end tomorrow, I would go out and eat a…

I've had an impossible burger 1.0 and felt it was basically like a crappy but passable burger. Waiting for the 2.0 one to hit places near me. Which version are you talking about?

I don't know. I ordered them at Bareburgers in Westchester, NY in the past year: https://www.bareburger.com

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#225

Post by mlthoughts2018 » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

scottie_m wrote: post #218

scott_s wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some vegetarians and vegans, they are greatly troubled if they consume even any animal by-product. There was a point when I felt this way; I stopped after a while, and told people "Don't worry, I'm not religious about it." I think there can be digestive concerns; eating a non-meat thing that was soaked in beef-grease may cause digestive trouble for someone who hasn't had beef in a very long time. But I've also he…

Wouldn’t those same people want to avoid a place like Burger King in general? They’d be supporting the business of one of the largest consumers of beef in the world.

On the other hand, by purchasing vegan options at a fast food chain, they would be increasing the market signal for vegan food. Getting a massive chain to reorient its supply logistics so that 0.2% of inventory is vegan instead of 0.1% could have a huge impact on overall animal welfare and environmental welfare.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#226

Post by arcseco » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:36 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #148

prolepunk wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully carbon taxes and such would kick in at some point and would include the real environmental cost of beef, so the switching to plant based beef would be even more swift.

Beef only is responsible for 3% of greenhouse gasses in America. I'm not sure an "emission" tax would really affect the price all that much. In addition, you have to account for and tax the emissions produced in plant production (fertilizer, agricultural soil, transportation, etc...). Agriculture is a total of 9%, whereas livestock only accounts for 3% of that. I work for agriculture companies, and a lot of animal fe…

Minor note; "Manure management accounts for about 15 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions from the Agriculture economic sector in the United States."

If you include the emissions from manure management you end with 45% of all emissions emanating from livestock production.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#227

Post by jdietrich » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #202

alpaca128 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

If it's for religious reasons (kosher, halal, etc) then those rules apply

The majority of the world's vegetarians are Hindus, who regard cows as sacred and consider beef to be strictly taboo.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#228

Post by scott_s » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

scottie_m wrote: post #218

scott_s wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some vegetarians and vegans, they are greatly troubled if they consume even any animal by-product. There was a point when I felt this way; I stopped after a while, and told people "Don't worry, I'm not religious about it." I think there can be digestive concerns; eating a non-meat thing that was soaked in beef-grease may cause digestive trouble for someone who hasn't had beef in a very long time. But I've also he…

Wouldn’t those same people want to avoid a place like Burger King in general? They’d be supporting the business of one of the largest consumers of beef in the world.

Some, yes, but not all. Everyone has to negotiate their personal principles versus practical and social constraints on a daily basis; this is just an instance of that phenomenon, and not everyone will do it in the same way.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#229

Post by Mediterraneo10 » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

alpaca128 wrote: post #194

gnicholas wrote: post #176

Are they cooked separately from the meat burgers? Some people don’t care, but some definitely do. Carl’s Jr. doesn’t keep their Beyond Burgers separate, apparently.

Just out of interest, what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two? I understand it in the case of gluten free products because that can really have health implications, but when you are vegan for ethical reasons it shouldn't make a difference, right? But I'd say this is great news either way. I like meat, but when there's a way to get the same taste and texture without the bad consequences for animals…

> what's the reasoning behind a strict separation of the two?

Some observant Jews choose a vegetarian option because vegetarian things are kosher by default. But if the veggie patty is cooked on the same grill as both meat and cheese, then the veggie patty becomes (according to some views) non-kosher. This is because kosher stipulates strict separation of meat and dairy: separate grills, separate sinks to wash any dishes afterwards, etc.

Re: Burger King is introducing a vegetarian patty from the start-up Impossible Foods

#230

Post by thinkcontext » Mon, Apr 01, 2019, 7:39 PM UTC

danans wrote: post #187

The most interesting thing about this particular announcement is that it may normalize plant-derived meat-substitutes among the typical fast-food-burger eating population, and not just the mostly-vegetarian folks (like myself) who will spend $10 on an Impossible Burger at a fancy sports bar. Within a decade this might just be normalized, and nobody will make much of it.

I agree, this could be big. The health implications could be a driver of this, consider how many people there are with high cholesterol that should be eating less beef. And then think about how many health driven alternative products there are, eg diet soda, margarine, alt-milks, etc that really can take off in the mainstream once big budget marketing gets behind it.